MRAC Vision
The “ideal tomorrow” is a thriving, dynamic Manitoba.
Elements of this vision include:
- Vibrant communities.
- A diversified, decentralized Manitoba.
- Interdependence and interactions of social, economic and environmental factors in both rural and urban communities.
- Provincial culture which recognizes the value/importance of agriculture and resource industries and the importance of interacting with other sectors (e.g. health).
- Agriculture as a dynamic industry that is a pathfinder, providing solutions to enhance the vibrancy of Manitoba and address world issues/problems.
MRAC Mission
MRAC’s mission is to act as a catalyst for change to achieve vibrant Manitoba communities by providing and developing leadership capacity, resources and innovative solutions.
MRAC Values
The values that guide decisions and actions for MRAC include:
- Innovation
- Risk taking
- Collaboration
- Sustainability
- Responsiveness
- Mentorship
- Integrity
MRAC Mandate
CAAP, the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program, is a five-year (2009 -2014), $163 million program for the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector.
Part of MRAC’s mandate is to administer Manitoba’s portion ($9.5 million) to help farm families respond and adapt to challenges in their operations and to build on the successes of the previous program, Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF).
CAAP intends to fund projects identified by the sector that align with priorities identified by industry and/or government at the national, regional, and multi-regional levels. As well, MRAC will assume responsibility for the development of leadership capacity.
The overall objective is to facilitate the agriculture, agri-food, and agri-based products sector’s ability to:
- Seize opportunities,
- Respond to new and emerging issues, and
- Pathfind and pilot solutions to new and ongoing issues in order to help it adapt and remain competitive.
Strategic Priorities for 2010
1. Vibrant Communities
MRAC, through CAAP, can be part of this catalytic process in the continuum of rural revitalization:
- Leadership development, resource management including human resources and infrastructure to provide sustainable quality of life solutions.
- Nurturing rural and urban community development.
- Helping to create new businesses and business models that thrive in the rural areas, respond to quality of life issues and produce economically viable “vibrant communities.”
2. Consumer Confidence
MRAC, through CAAP and other programs, can be part of this process:
- Seek solutions through new food products and technologies that change the nutritional profile of Canada’s food.
- Foster the development of foods derived from biotechnology that offer consumers added health and nutrition protection (nutraceuticals).
- Bridge the growing disconnect between Canadians and agriculture by acting as the catalyst to link agriculture and nutrition awareness.
3. Alternative Energy/Environment
MRAC, through CAAP, can be a part of this process:
- Identifying the pitfalls and helping to smooth the alternative energy industry development.
- Supporting the development a new generation of bio-fuels from sustainable farmed sources.
- Exploring ways to capture the value of co-product systems.
- Providing solutions to newer manufacturing process.
Adapting to the realities of climate change is both a challenge and an opportunity.
MRAC, through CAAP, can be a part of this process by supporting:
- Research to provide the solid scientific basis for voluntary or regulatory decisions for protection of the environment.
- The development of biodegradable packaging and other consumer goods to reduce garbage pollution.
- The development of opportunities to reprofile industry waste by-products into resources for alternative product/production.
- Research about adaptation to climate change.
4. Industry Restructuring
There will be new opportunities as supply management evolves.
MRAC, through CAAP, can play a role:
- Identifying consumer wants and developing products to respond to the demand.
- Guiding agriculture to provide new solutions to our export dependent economy.
- Expanding the Value Chain Manitoba Initiative (VCMI).
- Developing “what if” scenarios and options for parallel opportunities to complement supply management as it evolves.
5. Agricultural Product Traceability
There is an increasing consumer interest in food awareness and, in parallel, there is an immense consolidation of our food retailing industry.
Other realities include:
- An increase in energy costs.
- Primary processing of food and bio-processing of new products (supply chains) occurring closer to source due to the environmental cost of transporting food from other parts of the country as well as globally.
- The need for modernization of the food and bio-products processing sectors.
- The need for a core of mid-sized food processing companies.
MRAC, through CAAP, can play a role by:
- Enhancing traceability.
- Growing targeted bio-food, bio-product and food processing sectors.
- Integrating a greater understanding of the producer’s role as supply and value chains evolve.
- Providing solutions addressing the impact of energy costs embedded in consumer products.
6. Council Led Initiatives
MRAC can take a leadership role and act as a catalyst for emerging new topics or issues when industry is “not quite there yet” in deciding whether it is something they should be pursuing.
MRAC needs to:
- Establish a funding basis for such an initiative.
- Identify potential topic areas for events which will spur industry on to thinking about these opportunities and eventually apply for project funding.
- Host such events.
Monitoring Progress
Overall CAAP Outcomes
MRAC prepares a variety of reports which describe activities and results including: annual reports; weekly director updates; quarterly e-Zine, distributed and available online. MRAC also maintains a regularly updated website.
The MRAC Communications Officer meets regularly with regional representatives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and makes announcements about project results and activities.
The Executive Directors and Chairs from Councils across Canada meet on a semi-annual basis to discuss commonalities.
CAAP has a number of reporting requirements which demonstrate achievements and impacts. These include: extranet updates; regular financial and outcome reports; budget forecasts, and annual notational reports.
A mid-term formative evaluation survey and a summative survey toward the end of the five year period are required.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been defined by CAAP as follows.
Immediate Outcomes
- Improved knowledge of solutions/strategies analyzed/tested to address issues/opportunities – Number of projects that analyze/test solutions and strategies to address issues and opportunities
- Improved knowledge of potential innovative products, processes or technologies – Number of projects testing or analyzing innovative, products, processes or technologies
- Information shared with target groups/ project stakeholders - Number of projects successfully disseminating information
- Collaborations and partnerships established – Number of collaborations and partnerships established
- Industry funding leveraged – Ratio of funding leveraged
Intermediate Outcomes
- Industry implements strategies to respond to issues and opportunities – Number of strategies to respond to emerging issues developed and implemented by industry
- Systematic, ongoing collaboration/information sharing among regions/ sector groups – Percentage of projects reporting on-going collaboration beyond project completion
- Conversion of applied research into commercial products – Number of commercial products created
- Adoption of innovative value-added products, processes, technologies by the sector – Number of innovative value-added products, processes, technologies adopted by the sector
End Outcomes
- Improved competitiveness of sector – Number of projects resulting in:
- Reduced production or processing costs
- Improved product quality
- Improved market share
- Preservation of market share
- Increase in sector GDP resulting from projects – Impact on national GDP of a sample of projects
